The Good: Wonderful sculpted detail, Good accessories, Wonderful articulation
The Bad: Cloak/skirt in no way match
The Basics: The Vintage Collection Barriss Offee figure is unfortunately encumbered by a cloak and non-matching skirts, but is otherwise pretty cool.
I am an outspoken member of the camp of Star Wars toy collectors who is not a fan of the cloth elements for many of the new action figures. For sure, the technology exists to make the cloth and plastic elements match and look awesome, but far more often, they do not and the result is a sloppy looking action figure. Perhaps one of the best examples of that is the Star Wars Vintage Collection Barriss Offee action figure.
For those unfamiliar with Barriss Offee, she was one of two green-skinned Jedi (actually, she is the Padawan to the Jedi Luminara Unduli) seen in the Geonosis Arena in Attack Of The Clones (reviewed here!) and killed on a speeder bike in Revenge Of The Sith (reviewed here!). Her robes obscure much of her form and she is, for many fans, a background Jedi who is virtually interchangeable with her Mistress Jedi.
The 4" Barriss Offee was completely recast from the Attack Of The Clones Barriss Offee figure for the 2011 Vintage Collection and it appears to be making a resurgence in stores now.
Basics
The Barriss Offee figure stands 3 3/4" tall to the top of her head. She is an alien who is wearing a dress and cloak, half of which is made out of plastic. The outermost robe is plastic; however, her skirt is a maroon cloth which grants Barriss Offee a full range of movement. The molded on hood and plastic cloak match one another, but not the lower half (the cloth portions) of her outfit!
This toy is a pretty wonderful sculpt, which is pretty easy given how Barriss Offee has her hood up and most of her body is obscured in cloaks. Barriss Offee's belt is fashioned with a soft plastic, which allows them to easily bind the cloth and plastic elements to one another. She is molded as a pretty generic female form, though her outfit is appropriately textured to look like the one in her pictures.
Barriss Offee is colored with pretty amazing attention to detail, save her costume in the cloth vs. the plastic elements. Her costume is detailed more in the molded texture than in coloring. Barriss Offee is an olive green alien and she has coloring details that are appropriate like her belt buckle and the tattoos around her eyes. While she has tattoos on the back of her hands, she has neither molded fingernails, nor colored on ones.
Accessories
Barriss Offee is a Jedi Padawan, so all she comes with as far as accessories is her lightsaber(s). This Twi’lek Jedi features a blue bladed lightsaber which is less bright than many others. Instead, the portion of the 2 7/8" blade that is blue is an icy blue plastic. Apparently realizing how breakable the removable lightsaber blades from the Attack Of The Clones line were, the Vintage Collection Barriss Offee has a lightsaber without a detachable blade and a separate lightsaber hilt. The lightsaber hilt is a simple, 3/4" silver-gray cylinder with appropriate contouring to be a believable lightsaber hilt. It has a tiny peg which attaches to an almost imperceptible hole in Offee's belt, allowing the backup lightsaber to dangle there!
Playability
The four inch toy line was designed for play and Barriss Offee is generally good in that regard. First, the figure has amazing balance. Flatfooted, Barriss Offee is pretty solid, and because of the lower half articulation of the figure, she has decent posing options. Because of her solid cloak, she does not fall over for many non-flatfooted poses! As well, the holes in the bottom of her feet allow her to stand tall on any number of playsets in outlandish poses or stand in an action pose ready to defend other Jedi on Geonosis.
Barriss Offee holds up exceptionally well in the articulation department. She has hinged ball and socket joints at the ankles, knees, groin socket, elbows and shoulders, as well as a ball and socket joint which should allow for a great range of motion for the head (save that the molded on hood inhibits head motion. The wrists and waist have simple swivel joints to give her additional flexibility.
Collectibility
Barriss Offee is part of the Vintage Collection line that was released in 2011 and is making a slight resurgence at the moment in the primary marketplace. Barriss Offee is Vintage Collection figure VC51 and it easily replaces the Attack Of The Clones Barriss Offee, despite the lack of a base. Right now, this looks to be a fair investment figure, despite the mismatched cloth skirt and plastic robe.
Overview
Barriss Offee may be a background Padawan, but the Vintage Collection version of her is generally all right, despite the coloring problem.
For other Vintage Collection figures from Attack Of The Clones, please check out my reviews of:
VC15 Clone Trooper
VC29 Kit Fisto
VC30 Zam Wesell
VC33 Padme Amidala (Peasant Disguise)
VC37 Super Battle Droid
VC38 Clone Trooper (212th Battalion)
VC49 Fi-Ek Sirch
VC54 ARC Trooper Commander
VC58 Aayla Secura
7/10
For other Star Wars toy reviews, please check out my index page by clicking here!
© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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